Elias Says...

MLB

GREINKE STRIKES OUT 13 IN FIVE-INNING STINT

From Elias: Zack Greinke registered 13 strikeouts but was pulled after five innings in the Angels victory over the Mariners on Tuesday night. Greinke is the first pitcher since 1900 to strike out 13-or-more batters while pitching five-or-fewer innings in a game. Prior to Greinke, the most strikeouts ever recorded in a stint of five-or-fewer innings was 11 by 13 different pitchers.

Angels pitchers ended the contest with 20 total strikeouts, tying the most ever in a nine-inning game.

From Elias: David Price struck out 13 in a complete-game effort in Tampa Bay's 5-2 win over the Red Sox at Fenway Park on Tuesday night. Price is only the fourth visiting left-handed pitcher to strike out at least 13 Red Sox in a game at Fenway Park. The others to do that were the White Sox' Jack Harshman on July 25, 1954 (16 K's), Cleveland's Sam McDowell on June 23, 1971 (14 K's) and Seattle's Randy Johnson on April 10, 1998 (15 K's).

From Elias: Anibal Sanchez, acquired by the Tigers from the Marlins in July, pitched a three-hit shutout and struck out 10 in Detroit's 2-0 win over the Royals on Tuesday night. Sanchez is the first pitcher in the Tigers' franchise history to pitch a shutout with double-digit strikeouts after pitching for another team earlier in the season.

From Elias: Freddie Freeman, who celebrated his 23rd birthday just 13 days ago, hit a two-run home run in the bottom of the ninth inning to lift the Braves to a 4-3 win over the Marlins on Tuesday night. Over the last 30 seasons, only two Braves have hit a walk-off home run at a younger age than Freeman: Andruw Jones (twice: 1997 and 2000) and Jeff Francoeur (2006).

From Elias: Starter Aaron Laffey did not allow a run over 5.2 innings and was backed by five relief pitchers that completed the shutout in the Blue Jays' 4-0 win over the Orioles on Tuesday night. It marked only the second time in the Jays' franchise history that they used six pitchers in a shutout victory. Toronto also did that earlier this season (June 15) against the Phillies.

From Elias: Rookie Darin Ruf hit his first career home run in the second inning in the Phillies' 6-3 win over the Nationals on Tuesday night. Ruf became the 24th different Phillie to go deep in 2012, setting the franchise record for most players with at least one home run in a season, topping the previous mark of 23 in 1996.

Cueto

CUETO IS FIRST REDS PITCHER WITH 19 WINS SINCE 1988

From Elias: Johnny Cueto allowed two runs over seven innings and earned his 19th win of the season in the Reds' 4-2 victory over the Brewers on Tuesday night. Cueto is the first Reds pitcher to win 19 games in a season since Danny Jackson had 23 wins in 1988. Entering the 2012 season, only two major-league teams had a longer current streak of consecutive seasons without a 19-game winner than the Reds: the Nationals (30 straight before Gio Gonzalez did it this season) and the Brewers (26 straight).

From Elias: Garrett Jones blasted a home run in the top of the ninth inning, his 25th of the season, in the Pirates' 10-6 win over the Mets on Tuesday night. Jones joined teammates Andrew McCutchen (30) and Pedro Alvarez (30) in the 25 home-run club in 2012. It is only the second time in the Pirates' franchise history that they have had three players with 25+ home runs in the same season. In 1966, Roberto Clemente (29), Donn Clendenon (28) and Willie Stargell (33) all went deep at least 25 times for Pittsburgh.

From Elias: The Cardinals defeated the Astros by a score of 4-0 at Minute Maid Park on Tuesday night. St. Louis has now won each of the last 10 games it has played against Houston this season. Since divisional play began in 1969, the Cardinals have had only one other double-digit single-season winning streak against a particular opponent, beating the Pirates 10 straight times in 1985.

From Elias: Tim Lincecum was lit up for seven runs in four innings of work in the Giants' loss to the Diamondbacks on Tuesday night. Lincecum has now lost each of his last six decisions to Arizona dating back to August of 2011, his longest career losing streak against any opposing team in his career. In fact, no other team has beaten Lincecum more than four consecutive times.

From Elias: Francisco Liriano was knocked out with two outs in the fourth inning and was saddled with the loss in the White Sox' 4-3 defeat at the hands of the Indians on Tuesday afternoon. It is the sixth time that Liriano lasted four-or-fewer innings in a start this season, the most such starts for any American League pitcher.

From Elias: The Yankees took a 3-1 lead into the bottom of the seventh inning, but surrendered their advantage by allowing four runs en-route to a 5-4 loss to the Twins on Tuesday night. It is the 20th time that the Yankees have lost a game in which they have had a lead of at least two runs this season, tied with the Red Sox for the most such losses in the American League.

From Elias: George Kottaras, batting ninth in the A's batting order, hit a home run in the top of the tenth inning to snap a 2-2 tie and lead Oakland to a 3-2 victory over the Rangers on Tuesday night. Only two other A's that started the game in the ninth spot in the batting order have hit a go-ahead home run in extra innings since the team moved to Oakland in 1968: Kurt Suzuki against the White Sox on August 16, 2007 (10th inning) and Tony Phillips against Minnesota on August 6, 1983 (13th inning).